Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Let’s get the party started. I want everything green – hair, clothes, and food! Everything ;) Well… maybe we don’t have to color the food green. The Irish have so many delicious bakes that work well without additional green food color… Irish Soda Bread, for example. Who would have guessed, right?! Just kidding ;)

There are some places in the world that celebrate St. Patrick’s Day extensively… and those places are not even in Ireland. Chicago colors rivers green for that holiday and has a huge parade with loads of green wigs and a lot of Irish beer…
It feels like the U.S. turns collectively green on that day – I experienced St. Paddy’s Day several times on the other side of the pond and I am still surprised about what can be turned green. Green sweets, green coffee drinks at Starbucks, green cakes and even bread gets the “Hulk makeover” and somehow it gets more each year ;)
Anyway. I thought about doing something in green – maybe green cookies or something like that. But then I decided to make something “normal”. Irish soda bread. That is also typical from Ireland and that one works perfectly without green food color.

The first time I made soda bread I fell in love instantly. It is not like a classic bread – more like a combination of bread and cake. More similar to a babka but without the yeast. As the name already reveals – the leavening agent is baking soda in this kind of bake. Super easy and super quick to make. The result is really delicious – add some butter and marmalade on top and you have a delicious breakfast treat… or snack during the day if you want. If you want to serve something different for breakfast or your next brunch you might want to think about making soda bread for a change.
Some might say “Raisins? Are you kidding me?!” – if you are not a big fan of raisins you can exchange them, of course. Cranberries or other dried fruits and berries are fine here too.
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
8.8 oz. (250g) spelt flour
3.5 oz. (100g) rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
0.9 oz. (25g) cold butter, diced
3.5 oz. (100g) raisins
1.8 oz. (50g) cranberries
17 fl. oz. (500ml) buttermilk
250g Dinkelmehl (Type 630)
100g Haferflocken
1 TL Natron
1 TL Salz
25g kalte Butter, in Stücken
100g Rosinen
50g getrocknete Cranberries
500ml Buttermilch


DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. Add both of the flours, the rolled oats, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Add the diced butter and rub into the flour. Add the raisins and cranberries and mix in. Add the buttermilk and use a spoon or knife to mix in – do not overmix. The dough will be quite sticky. Shape into a flat round loaf (Ø 8 inches/20cm) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Cut a deep cross in the top and bake for 38-45 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom. Take out of the oven and let cool down completely on a wire rack.
2. Beide Mehlsorten, Haferflocken, Natron und Salz in eine große Schüssel geben und vermischen. Die butter in kleinen Stücken dazugeben und dann mit dem Mehl verreiben. Die Rosinen und Cranberries dazugeben und untermischen. Die Buttermilch dazugeben und mit einem Löffel oder Messer vermischen – nur bis keine Mehlreste mehr zu sehen sind, den Teig nicht zu viel bearbeiten. Der Teig wird recht klebrig sein, aber das ist OK. Zu einem runden, flachen Brotlaib mit einem Durchmesser von etwa 20cm (8 inches) formen und auf das Blech setzen. Mit einem scharfen Messer ein Kreuz tief in den Laib schneiden und dann für 38-45 Minuten backen. Das Brot sollte hohl klingen, wenn man mit den Fingern auf die Unterseite klopft. Aus dem Ofen holen und dann auf einem Kuchengitter komplett auskühlen lassen.


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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Cranberries
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:45
- Total Time: 00:55
- Yield: 1
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: Ireland
Description
Easy and quick to make – Irish Soda Bread is not only a nice treat for St. Patrick’s Day.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Enjoy baking!
Keywords: Irish, soda bread, easy, quick, raisins, cranberries